The father of an Alberta man who died weeks after being diagnosed with testicular cancer says his son died prematurely after being failed multiple times by health authorities.

Greg Price, 31, died unexpectedly on May 19, 2012, three days after surgery to remove a cancerous testicle.

On Thursday, the Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) released a study of Price’s experience with the province’s health-care system as he dealt with a serious and time-sensitive condition. Using health care records obtained by the family and supplemental information, the Continuity of Patient Care Study revealed several opportunities to improve the health-care system.

“Greg died prematurely. We believe he died prematurely because of multiple gaps and failures in the so called system of health care in Alberta,” Greg’s father David Price said on Thursday.

The 92-page HQCA report details multiple breaks in the quality of Price’s care over time. The report came up with 13 detailed recommendations to mitigate problems related to breakdowns in the continuity of patient care.

“Our focus was and remains improving the system,” said Ward Flemons, the study’s author.

The report highlights the fact that breaks in continuity of care, such as lost information or poor communication between providers, happen often.

Both Flemons and Price believe many people experience continuity of care issues similar to Price.

Price’s death occurred less than four months after he was referred to a general surgeon for an opinion regarding a thickening of the epididymis, which is a tube in the testicles.

It took three months for Price to hear from the surgeon’s office about an appointment, but in the meantime he visited a walk-in clinic complaining of lower back pain, more than five weeks after the referral was made. X-ray and ultrasound tests were done about a week later and they resulted in the detection of a large abdominal mass.

This was the first indication that Price had a serious condition, according to the report. An urgent chest, abdominal and pelvic CT scan was booked and preformed more than two weeks later.

When Price was not contacted by the clinic with CT scan results, he called the clinic and was told his physician had left to join another practice. An appointment was made for him to see a different doctor and soon a scrotum ultrasound was preformed.

The ultrasound confirmed a testicular mass consistent with cancer and a referral to a urologist who would remove the cancerous testicle was made. After hearing nothing from the urologist’s office for a week, Price called the urologist’s office only to find out the urologist was away for an extended period of time.

Arrangements to see a different urologist were quickly made and a surgery was booked for two days later.

Two days after surgery Price grew concerned about swelling in his legs but was unable to reach the urologist who preformed the surgery. He went to an emergency department where a doctor examined him and he was discharged.

The next morning, Price suddenly lost consciousness. His family called 911. After initial resuscitative efforts, he was transported to hospital where he died.

Before his death, Price was burdened with co-ordinating his own care and made to wait longer than he should have for potentially life-saving care, according to the HQCA report.

The report’s recommendations include making investments in the provincial electronic health record and e-referral system to standardize workflow processes, and having the Alberta Medical Association and Alberta Health Services investigate how to partner with HealthLink Alberta so that patients who believe they need to contact a specialist responsible for their care after hours can do so.

In a statement responding to the report, Alberta Medical Association president Allan Garbutt said the association is fully prepared to work with others to implement the recommendations.

“The findings in this report illustrate what physicians already know: that the health-care system too often fails to provide continuity and support for the vulnerable, sometimes with tragic results,” the statement said.

The HQCA report includes lessons from Price’s family’s perspective, many of which encourage patients to be active in their own care.

“When there’s hand-offs between different players in the system, they each play their own game and there isn’t the collaborative effort there to make sure that the patient themselves gets the best care,” said David Price.

The Price family has set up a website at www.healtharrows.ca to educate others about Greg Price’s story in the hopes of spurring system-wide change.

“Had Greg known more about what was going on, I’m sure he would have been more proactive himself. He made assumptions that in the end cost him his life,” Price said.

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